MICHAEL DUNLOP: THE MAN WITH A TARGET ON HIS BACK
The Supersport class is enjoying something of a renaissance around the globe, but it’s always been flying high at the Isle of Man TT Races, where it rarely fails to deliver a thriller. Michael Dunlop has made a habit of standing on the top step, but with fresh machines on the grid and fierce rivals closing in, the Ballymoney legend can feel the pressure mounting.
After Michael Dunlop raised the 600cc lap record to 128.667mph at TT 2013 to make it four wins from four starts, the Ballymoney man said he would smash the 130mph barrier for the Mountain course on a 600cc machine. Sitting alongside Dunlop in the post-race press conference, third placed John McGuinness – who had set a new outright lap record on his 1000cc Honda Racing Fireblade at 131.671mph just a few days earlier – shook his head in disbelief. ‘If Michael is going to do 130mph on a 600 the rest of us might as well go home,’ the Morecambe man smiled.
Dunlop followed up on a brilliant Supersport TT double on his MD Racing YZF R6 Yamaha in 2022 with another two-timer in the same class twelve months later to claim a landmark 25th TT victory. Last year Dunlop notched up yet another 600cc double, making it six wins in a row in the middleweight class, as he finally surpassed his Uncle Joey’s record tally of 26 TT victories to become the event’s most successful racer with 29 wins.
The 36-year-old has won TTs on Superbike, Superstock and Supertwin machinery, but it is the Supersport class that forms the foundation of his Mountain course success. His first TT victory came as a 20-year-old on a R6 Yamaha during just his third appearance at the event and he has gone on to notch up another dozen Supersport wins - four with Honda and nine on Yamahas in total.
The self-styled ‘Bull’ has always relished the challenge of Supersport racing around the Mountain course. The power produced by the 600cc machines is more highly strung than the brutal grunt of the 1000cc superbikes, making the lighter and more nimble bikes an exacting tool for screaming through the superfast sections from Braddan to Ballacraine or the climb over the Mountain. As a pudgy teenager Dunlop extolled the nutritional virtues of Pot Noodles before applying himself to the task of becoming super-fit. Lean and toned, he’s now the perfect fit for the sleek contours of the R6, allowing him to prise every ounce of performance from the ageing Yamaha.
SMALL MARGINS
Producing highly competitive racing with often little to choose between the bikes in terms of outright performance, the Supersport class has witnessed some of the closest finishes in TT racing.
In 2012 Bruce Anstey got the verdict over Cameron Donald by just 0.77 seconds after almost 150 miles of racing in the opening 600cc clash - the second closest finish in TT history. It is also a style of racing that suits Dunlop’s aggressive, attacking approach. His bravery in keeping the throttle pinned wide open, when others slacken their grip, allows him to carry as much speed through the corners as the laws of physics permit.
NEW BIKES FORCE RESET
As the man to beat in the class, Dunlop has a big target on his back and recent changes to the Supersport regulations could threaten the domination of the class by the Japanese manufacturers the Ulsterman has previously favoured.
As the man to beat in the class, Dunlop has a big target on his back
In motorcycle racing, sticking to what you know often means going backwards, something Dunlop is determined to prevent as the new rules force a reset for the Ulsterman and some of his principal rivals. Triumph’s 765cc triple and Ducati’s 955cc V2 Panigale, both bristling with extra cubes and horsepower, have been eligible for TT competition since 2024. Successful at world championship level, these new bikes have now attracted the attention of Dunlop and some of his leading rivals.
Whilst most racers aspire to the cushiness of a ‘factory’ backed squad where teams of mechanics prepare the machinery and provide the tea, Dunlop prefers to plough his own furrow. Tales of the Ulsterman appearing in the Honda garage wearing Kawasaki trousers during his 2013 spell with the official squad spelt out the rebel’s resistance to being controlled or taking orders.
Trusting only his closest confidants, Dunlop retains that freedom with his MD Racing/Hawk Racing affiliation that allows him to pick and choose the best machinery for each class.
LOOKING FOR GAINS
DUNLOP EYES UP THE DUCATI
Impressed by the Ducati V2 Panigale’s performances in the hands of arch-rival, Davey Todd last season, Dunlop switched to a Milwaukee-backed V2 for Spanish testing at the start of the year before racing the Italian machine at Daytona during March. Confident the V-twin can help him maintain his winning Supersport ways at the TT, the Ballymoney man has switched from Yamaha to Ducati for his 2025 campaign. The move represents a major departure for the kingpin of the class, but seasoned Dunlop watchers caution that he will also have his trusty R6 in the van when he arrives on the island. Last year the wily Ulsterman rode a Triumph during TT practice before switching back to the Yamaha for both races.
TODD REUNITES WITH PADGETT’S
Davey Todd was the first of the leading road racers to highlight the Ducati’s potential 12 months ago. With a broad smile on his face beneath a nifty mullet, the 29-year-old has injected a new excitement into the sport over the past couple of seasons, upsetting the established order with blazing performances across every class.
Todd’s maiden TT win in the RL360 Superstock TT and a stunning second victory in the Milwaukee Senior TT have established the Saltburn-by-the-Sea man as one of the event’s leading stars alongside Dunlop, Hickman and Harrison. The Big Three has become the Big Four.
Intriguingly, Todd has decided to return to Honda power for his 2025 Supersport campaign
After winning on his debut with a Powertoolmate-backed Ducati at last year’s North West 200, Todd battled with arch rival Dunlop in both of the 2024 Supersport TT races, eventually finishing runner-up to the Ballymoney rider in race one and third in the second encounter behind Dunlop and Harrison. Intriguingly, Todd has decided to return to Honda power for his 2025 Supersport campaign as he rejoins Clive Padgett’s Milenco backed Honda team.
HONDA UPDATE FOR HARRISON
In the face of the new threat from rival manufacturers, however, Honda has not been standing still. Jack Kennedy won last season’s British Supersport championship on the latest version of the CBR600RR. The Irishman’s Honda team-mate and three-time TT winner, Dean Harrison, will have the updated version of the 600cc machine at his disposal for this year’s Mountain Course races.
Harrison will have the updated version of the 600cc machine at his disposal for this year’s Mountain Course races
The Yorkshireman, who is now a Manx resident after moving to the island from his native Bradford last winter, won the second 600cc TT in 2018. Since that day the 36-year-old has finished on the podium of every 600cc TT race bar one without reaching the top step. Will the new Honda help Harrison to make the breakthrough and claim his first TT win since his 2019 Senior TT triumph?
TRIUMPH SUPPORT FOR HICKMAN AND COWARD
The last man to beat Michael Dunlop in a Supersport TT was Peter Hickman in the second race of 2019. The victory of the 14-time TT winner in a shortened two-lap contest onboard the Trooper Beer/Smiths Racing Triumph is the 38-year-old’s only Supersport success around the Mountain course.
The last man to beat Michael Dunlop in a Supersport TT was Peter Hickman in the second race of 2019
Running under his own PHR team banner, Hickman squeezed his six foot plus frame beneath the screen of the Trooper Beer 765cc Triumph again in 2023 to finish runner-up to Dunlop in the second Supersport race, as he became the only rider other than the Ulsterman to break through the 130mph barrier (130.219mph) on a Supersport-spec machine. Last season the Burton-on-Trent racer had to be content with ninth and fifth place Supersport finishes.
‘Factory support’ may be a little different from it was several decades ago when the factory Honda team would turn up with a fleet of Japanese technicians and roll out a hand-built machine for Joey Dunlop. Nonetheless, both Hickman and Yorkshire’s Jamie Coward will be delighted to have the support of the Triumph factory for their 2025 Supersport TT campaigns on the 765cc triples.
Coward’s best TT finish to date came in 2019 when he lost out on a win to Michael Dunlop in the Lightweight race by just 1.2 seconds. A second podium followed for the Yorkshireman in the 2023 Supertwin race as he finished in the top six in every race he started during that year’s TT campaign. The three-time winner of the ‘Privateer of the Year’ award retired in the opening Supersport race last year before posting an impressive fourth place finish ahead of Hickman in the second battle.
STATUS QUO A TURN OF FORTUNE FOR HIND?
The only luck James Hind experienced during last year’s TT was of the miserable variety as gremlins forced the young hopeful out of every race bar one. The one result he did achieve – a stunning fifth place result in the opening Supersport race – confirmed the potential the double Manx Grand Prix winner has held since bursting on to the scene as an 18-year-old. Keeping faith with his 2024 team, Hind will be hoping for better fortune this June.
A stunning fifth place result in the opening Supersport race for James Hind at TT 2024
TO BE SURE
Hailing from north and south of the Irish border, Paul Jordan (7th and 8th) and Mike Browne (8th and 7th) were top ten finishers in both of last year’s Supersport TT races. The pair will remain with the same teams for TT 2025 with Jordan on the Jackson Racing/Prosper2 CBR600RR Honda and Browne riding in his second season with the BPE/Russell Racing Yamaha team.
Browne will be riding his second season with the BPE/Russell Racing Yamaha team.
ALL CHANGE
CUMMINS TO RACE THE DUCATI
Like Michael Dunlop, Conor Cummins has also made the switch to the V2 Ducati for this year’s two Supersport TTs. The 39-year-old local favourite who split from the Milenco Padgetts Honda squad during last year’s TT festival, will return to action with the Burrows/RK Racing squad in 2025.
Conor Cummins has also made the switch to the V2 Ducati for this year’s two Supersport TTs
The ‘Ramsey Rocket’ would share Peter Hickman’s sentiment that their physique makes them more suited to big bike racing as opposed to Supersport competition. Although Cummins has enjoyed numerous TT podium finishes on 1000cc machinery, his only Supersport rostrum result was a third place behind runner-up Bruce Anstey in Michael Dunlop’s 2009 TT debut win.
EVANS TO HONDA, HILLIER TO KAWASAKI
Also making a change is Conor's compatriot, Michael Evans. The former Manx Grand Prix winner has left last year’s Triumph behind, as his team, Smith Racing, favours the Honda. James Hillier had also planned to ride a CBR600RR with the WTF Honda squad for this year’s campaign, but following news of the team’s withdrawal, he’s now reuniting with Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing. Having secured two top six results in 2024 with the same squad, it’s a move that could work out well for both rider and team.
The former Manx Grand Prix winner has left last year’s Triumph behind, as his team, Smith Racing, favours the Honda
FASTER AGAIN?
Despite his pessimistic response to Michael Dunlop’s 2013 prediction, John McGuinness didn’t stay at home and he will be back in action at TT 2025. Two of the Morecambe legend’s 23 TT victories came in the Supersport class, but the 55-year-old will sit out both races this year to concentrate on the Superbike, Senior and Superstock TTs with Honda Racing.
‘It is 18 years since I set the first 130mph TT lap during the centenary year,’ he reflected. 'Now Dunlop, Hickman and the rest of the boys are up there or thereabouts at that speed on 600s. Like everything at the TT, the Supersport class just keeps going forward, getting faster and more competitive every year.’
As new machines enter the fold and rising stars close in, the 2025 Supersport TT promises one of the most fiercely contested chapters in the race’s storied history.
